Finding opportunity through resilience, innovation and community.
Every business faces moments of uncertainty. The most successful are often defined not by the challenges they encounter, but by how they respond to them. For Emma Hughes and Joanne Evison, founders of Casual Closet, that defining moment came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like thousands of independent retailers across the country, they watched as the familiar world of high street shopping changed almost overnight. Shop doors closed, footfall disappeared and the future of many small businesses suddenly became uncertain.
For many, it was a time to pause.
For Emma and Joanne, it became a time to innovate.
Friends as well as business partners, they understood that Casual Closet had never simply been about selling clothes. Their customers came for the personal service, the honest styling advice, the laughter and the sense of belonging that had become part of the Casual Closet experience. They knew that if they could preserve that connection, they could preserve the heart of their business.
Rather than waiting for customers to return, they found a way to bring the boutique into people’s homes.
Using Facebook Live, they began showcasing new collections, styling outfits, answering questions in real time and chatting with customers exactly as they would if they were standing together in the shop. There was nothing complicated or polished about it. It was authentic, personal and full of warmth. During a period when so many people were isolated from friends and family, those live sessions became about far more than fashion. They became a place where people could smile, interact and feel connected.
What started as a response to an unprecedented challenge soon became one of Casual Closet’s greatest strengths. Their willingness to embrace technology, adapt quickly and put relationships at the centre of everything they did enabled the business not only to survive but to build an even stronger and more loyal community. They demonstrated that resilience is not simply about enduring difficult times; it is about having the courage to rethink, reinvent and move forward.
It was this entrepreneurial spirit that led Emma and Joanne to receive the Stacey’s Stepping Stone Award.
The award recognised two women who refused to allow circumstances to define their future. The financial support provided additional investment in their business, while a year of mentoring helped them continue developing their vision, strengthening their confidence and planning for sustainable growth. More importantly, the award affirmed what they had already begun to prove—that innovation, adaptability and determination are powerful foundations on which to build a successful business.
Emma and Joanne’s story is a reminder that opportunity does not always arrive in the way we expect. Sometimes it is created through courage, creativity and the willingness to embrace change.
Women’s Economic Agency in Action
Women’s Economic Agency is about far more than responding to change. It is about recognising that, even in the most difficult circumstances, we still have the ability to make choices that shape our future.
Emma and Joanne chose innovation over fear, connection over isolation and optimism over uncertainty. They understood that relationships were their greatest strength and that by continuing to serve their customers with authenticity and care, they could build something even stronger than before.
Supported by the Stacey’s Stepping Stone Award, championed by Jackie Hyde and strengthened through mentoring with Jenny Matthews, they transformed one of the most challenging periods for independent retail into an opportunity for growth and innovation.
Their story reminds us that Women’s Economic Agency is not simply about surviving difficult times. It is about having the confidence to see possibility where others see obstacles, and creating opportunities that continue to benefit not only your own business, but the community that grows around it.
That is Women’s Economic Agency in Action.
